Changez, Princeton high-flier and ex hot-shot New York financier, has returned to his home city, Lahore. In an eating house, he entraps an American, forcing him to listen to his expat experience. After 9/11, Changez's pride in being a New Yorker soured. Incensed by America's aggressive foreign policy and forced to examine 'fundamentalism', he felt he had to leave. The clearly enunciated narration exactly matches Changez's formal phrasing and deferential tone. Cunningly, this politeness conceals his rising anger and the listening tourist's capacity for violence. The shocking conclusion, symbolising America's crass and tragic misjudgments, reinforces the allegory. Essential listening.